As the United States braces for a significant and potentially historic winter storm, more than a dozen states have declared emergencies, urging residents to stay home and prepare for hazardous conditions. With over 8,000 flights canceled due to the impending weather, the situation underscores the storm’s depth, affecting millions of Americans from New Mexico to New England. The upcoming days may not only test the resilience of infrastructure and emergency services but also shed light on the importance of community preparedness in the face of nature’s unpredictable fury.
More than 8,000 flights set to take off over the weekend have been canceled as a major storm threatens widespread heavy snow and a band of catastrophic ice stretching from East Texas to North Carolina. According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, at least 3,400 flights were delayed or canceled on Saturday, with more than 5,000 called off for Sunday.
Approximately 140 million people across the United States, from New Mexico to New England, are under a winter storm warning, as forecasters predict that the damage, particularly in areas heavily impacted by ice, could surpass the devastation caused by a hurricane. Snowfall began in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas on Friday ahead of a winter storm expected to combine with bitter Arctic cold, enveloping much of the country over the weekend.
“This is a mean storm,” said Jacob Asherman, a meteorologist at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center in Maryland. He noted that this storm is the most intense and expansive of the season thus far. Life-threatening wind-chill temperatures plummeted to below -45 degrees Celsius (-50 degrees Fahrenheit) in places like the Dakotas and Minnesota, with warnings indicating that exposure to such extreme cold without proper clothing could quickly lead to hypothermia.
The areas facing the worst conditions include parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, where forecasts suggest that ice thickness could reach up to an inch, potentially coating tree limbs, power lines, and roadways. Governors in more than a dozen states have sounded the alarm by declaring emergencies or advising residents to stay home. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, using social media platform X, informed residents that the state Department of Transportation was taking steps to pretreat roads and urged the public to “stay home if possible.”
Utility companies are prepared for power outages, which may occur as ice-coated trees and power lines are likely to continue falling long after the storm has passed. President Donald Trump expressed that his administration is coordinating efforts with state and local authorities, assuring that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is “fully prepared to respond” to these emergencies.
The storm also presents a significant challenge for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has been in office for just weeks. On Friday, he informed local news station NY1 that the city’s sanitation workforce would be transformed into “the nation’s largest snow-fighting operation” in preparation for the heavy snowfall expected on Sunday.
As communities across the nation navigate the implications of this storm, proactive measures in public preparedness become critical in ensuring the safety and well-being of all residents affected by this looming winter weather event.
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